


your smile (is my favourite thing)

by TheQueenInTheNorth



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 14:12:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16286111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenInTheNorth/pseuds/TheQueenInTheNorth
Summary: Kasius needs a date to a party, Sinara agrees to play along.





	your smile (is my favourite thing)

“Sinara, a word?” He stood in the doorway to the training room, clearly having waited for the exercise to be over.

She threw the other soldiers a look that kept moving the ones who had looked like they considered lingering. She crossed over to Kasius. She’d really rather be heading to the showers.“Yes?”

He smiled at her.“Did training go well?”

“What do you want?”she asked in lieu of an answer.

“Are you doing anything the night after next?” His smile was wavering for some reason.

Sinara frowned.“You know I’m not. You said you didn’t need a guard. You said Canavan’s security would be enough.”

“It is, I am sure,”Kasius said.“It’s just - I realised I made a mistake with the invitation. That is, I RSVP’d with a plus one. I don’t actually have a plus one.”

“What’s that got to do with -”she started, and broke off.“You want me to go to the engagement party of your so-called friend you described as ‘basically Faulnak, but with an ego even less deserved’?”

“Yes. And pretend we’ve been dating for at least a few months, because I filled that card out a while ago.” He stepped closer, taking her hand and putting on a pleading look.“Please? I’ll owe you one.”

“As if you don’t owe me about three dozen already,”she retorted, but didn’t pull her hand away.

“There’ll be food,”Kasius added.

Sinara sighed.“Fine. But I’m not going shopping for this, and I’m not making an effort to learn any of your friends’ names.”

“Thank you,”he said, letting go of her hand to pull out his comm screen instead, pulling up a picture.“And you don’t have to worry about anything. I already ordered the dress, I should be here tomorrow morning and -”

She didn’t so much as glance at the screen.

“You already bought a dress?” Sinara rolled her eyes. This was so typical.“What if I had said no?”

He gave her a rueful smile.“I would have been sad, dateless, and out a thousand units?”

“A thousand units?”she echoed.

“Well, it’s not _that_ formal.” Kasius shrugged. Then he seemed to notice the look on her face.“Oh. That’s expensive? I mean - of course it is. I knew that. Please still come?”

* * *

She should have looked at the damn picture. Maybe then she could have convinced him of a different dress. But now it was too late for any of that.

It was light blue, the floor-length skirt far too puffed out for her liking, the bodice form fitting and laced in the back in such a way it didn’t even close completely, the sleeves some sort of mesh with small flower applications. It was exactly the sort of thing Kasius’ idiot friends would wear.

“You look beautiful,”Kasius said, and Sinara snorted in derision.“I look like Isana.”

She had met the woman a few times before, not that the noble had ever once bothered to acknowledge her presence, trying desperately to somehow catch Kasius’ attention. She had aspirations of marrying into the Emperor’s family, but didn’t have the name to marry Faulnak. Which, of course, was entirely unrelated to Sinara’s dislike of her.

Now it was at Kasius to laugh.“Isana wishes.” He offered her his arm.“Are you ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,”Sinara said as she linked arms with him.

Why she always agreed to his silly ideas was beyond her.

* * *

They had arrived fashionably late, which meant they mostly went unnoticed on their arrival, the festivities in full swing already.

“We better not have missed the food,”Sinara muttered to Kasius as they made their way over to the hosting couple. Canavan and - his fiancée. True to her word, Sinara had not learned her name.

That did not stop the woman from embracing her as well as Kasius.“It’s so good to meet you! Sinara, isn’t it? Kasius just can’t stop talking about you.”

“Only good things, I hope?”she managed, taking a subtle step back. The polite lies she had expected, the hugging was a horrifying surprise.

“Of course,”Kasius interjected, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close against his side.“Excuse us. We’ll go dance before you embarrass me further, Ria.”

Ria laughed goodnaturedly, already turning to greet the next wellwishers as Kasius guided Sinara to the dancefloor.

Dancing? There had been talk of food, not of dancing.

She realised her fingers were digging into Kasius’ arm only when he gently pulled her hand away.“You look terrified. Please smile before someone thinks I threatened you to come here.”

She gave him a scathing look in reply.

“I am aware I couldn’t,”Kasius said.“They aren’t. So please try to seem like you’re enjoying yourself.”

Sinara gave him a smile that looked genuine enough if you didn’t actually know her.“Or we could just not dance?”

“If we don’t dance, they’re more likely to come talk to us.”

She shuddered.“Let’s go dance, then.”

* * *

Three songs in, Sinara had to admit dancing was actually quite nice.

The music was slow and soft, allowing Kasius to keep up a constant stream of snide little remarks about the other guests to amuse her, and Sinara to point out each glaring fault she found with the venue’s security detail.

Kasius was just whispering another comment in her ear, his warm breath against her skin sending a tingling down her spine, when she locked eyes with Isana over his shoulder.

Isana didn’t have the decency to look away at being caught, sullenly sipping her wine, glaring daggers at Sinara.

“Isana’s staring,”Sinara informed Kasius.

He shrugged.“So let her stare. Who cares?”

“I was thinking we’d give her something to stare at?”

“Oh?” Kasius looked at her somewhat uncertainly. She let her gaze drop to his lips for a lingering moment, and when she met his eyes again the uncertainty was gone. Instead, his eyes were sparkling with mirth.“I like the way you think, Sinara.”

She had already forgotten all about Isana by the times his lips met hers.

* * *

The food was even better than she had expected, course after course served by a flock of waiters. She was vaguely aware that most other guests only ate a fraction of each dish, but she wasn’t about to let some strange rich people notion of propriety stop her from eating. And Kasius didn’t seem to mind, anyways.

They had arrived at dessert when she did stop mid-dish, leaning closer to Kasius, lowering her voice as much as she could while still being heard,“There’s a stone in my cake.”

For all she knew, that could be some sort of new craze with the upper classes. You never knew with those people. Maybe she was supposed to eat it?

“A gemstone?”he questioned, as if it mattered what sort of stone they’d put in the cake.

“It’s purple,”she supplied, digging it out with her fork and dropping it onto Kasius’ plate.

“Oh dear,”he said.

Before she could ask what was wrong, Ria had already let out a delighted scream across the table, drawing the attention of the whole gathering.“Oh! Sinara and Kasius are next!”

For one wild moment Sinara thought they were somehow being threatened, but Kasius seemed too calm for that to be true. Instead he laughed at the applause and whistles they got, pulling Sinara in closer, pressing a kiss to her temple before he whispered,“It’s supposed to predict who’ll get engaged next.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,”she said, and burst out laughing.

Kasius raised a hand to cup her cheek.“Well, whatever keeps you smiling.”

* * *

“That was more fun than I thought it would be,”Sinara said, kicking off her shoes and sinking down onto the sofa. The way to her own room seemed too far, somehow.

“Good.” Kasius sat down next to her, a little closer than usual.“Can I tell you something?”

She tilted her head to the side, smiling a little.“Experience suggests you’re incapable of shutting up, so I’d wager you can.”

“I didn’t get the RSVP wrong,”he said.“I meant to ask you to come from the start and then lost my nerve.”

She stared at him blankly, trying to puzzle through what he had just said. Then she bit back a laugh.“You could ask me to be your fake date with barely any notice but not to go with you for real?”

“Apparently,”he said with a chuckle.“Does that make me an idiot?”

“Afraid so.” She scooted closer, wrapping her arms around his neck.“But according to the cake stone, you’re my idiot, so I guess I’m stuck with you.”

“Who am I to argue with the cake stone?”he said, and kissed her.


End file.
